I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of locking mechanisms for locking basketball hoops when not in use and in particular to a pin-lock vertical hook on one end and at least one horizontal hook on an opposite end of a hoop restriction.
II. Description of the Prior Art
There are no known locks for basketball hoops and none are believed to exist. There have been attachments to basketball hoops for aiding basketball practice but not for locking a basketball hoop to prevent its unauthorized use. The need to lock a basketball hoop is a relatively recent development. It is similar to a need for fencing and locking a swimming pool because it is an attractive nuisance. Now a basketball hoop also must be locked to prevent liability of its private or public owner for injury to others from its misuse. Other related needs for locking basketball hoops also exist.
Locking a basketball hoop has similarity in principle to wheel-immobilization locks for car wheels. The similarity exists as a result of circular construction of both. Wheel-immobilization locking is different, however, in that there is no opening through a hub that can be relied on for inserting a locking mechanism. Instead, rotation of a wheel must be blocked by a mechanism that can be positioned on only on an outside periphery of the wheel. Consequently, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,013,265 granted to Richards and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,144 granted to Davis for wheel-immobilization devices, there were mechanisms for clamping onto a round object from only an outside periphery. Both had an expandable member that hooked around one side of a wheel and two separated members that hooked around other parts of the wheel. By contrast, a basketball hoop has an open center through which select portions of a locking mechanism can be inserted. This invention makes use of the open nature of the basketball hoop for positioning different types of locking mechanisms in a different working relationship.